Poland has joined the United States in voting against a UN resolution to investigate alleged Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip
The allegations were levied against Israel in the so-called Goldstone Report on the Gaza conflict earlier this year.
Last month, Poland also voted against the Goldstone Report at the UN Human Rights Council.
The report, released in September 2009, is a UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, led by Richard Goldstone of South Africa. The report, condemned by Israel for bias, accused both Palestinian militants and Israeli Defense Forces of carrying out war crimes and urged an investigation and trial by the International Criminal Court.
Today, the UN General Assembly voted 114-18 (with 44 countries abstaining) to adopt a resolution to conduct further investigations into the war crime allegations. Poland, along with the US, Israel, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and others, voted against the resolution.
The United Nations Security Council will now review the resolution. The only country on the council to have shown support for an International Criminal Court investigation and trial so far is China.
The Goldstone Report, ordered by a UN mission mandate in late January 2009, refers specifically to “events and conduct that occurred in the context of the armed conflict that took place between 27 December 2008 and 19 January 2009” in the Gaza Strip in which over 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.
(mmj)